Adjustable carriage-pole



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N L HOLMES ADJUSTABLE CARRIAGE POLE.

No'. 496,609. Patented May Z, 1893.

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No. 496,609. PatentedMay 2, 1893.

mums Pumps 00 Puma UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN L. HOLMES, OF RAOINE, WISCONSIN.

ADJ USTAB LE CARRIAG E-POLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,609, dated May 2, 1893.

Application filed March 15, 1892. Serial No. 425,033. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NATHAN L. HOLMES, of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Carriage- Ioles; and I do hereby declare that the followingis'a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompany- 1ng drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The general object of this invention is to provide a practical, durable and economical construction in that class of adjustable oarriage poles in which the arms of the pole, by which it is connected with the carriage shackles, have flexible connection with the po e.

Qt the particular objects of the invention a primary one is to provide a strong, durable, compact and noiseless construction of the flexible connections which unite the arms with the pole.

Another important object of the invention is to provide such a connection between the arms and the pole as will insure a corresponding movement of both arms with respect to the pole in adjusting said arms, and a fixedness of the pole against rotation after such adjustment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means in this class of adjustable poles by which the arms will be prevented from spreading at their ends (and thus from imposinga spreading strain upon the shackles) by the weight of the pole or any weight that may rest thereon.

A still further object of the invention is to provide more secure screw-threaded connections of tubular arms with the fittings which said arms connect with the pole and with the shackles.

are hinged thereto as will allow the arms to be tightly clamped between them and thus prevented from loosening and rattling.

For the attainment of these and other and minor objects, the invention consists in the features of construction substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, which represent my inven': tion in the best form now known to me, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a carriage pole provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is an under side view thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged under side view of the rear end of the pole and the adjacent portions of the adjustable arms and braces. Fig. 4 is a section in the line 44 of Figs 1 and 3. Fig. 5 is a section in the line 55 of Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 6 is a section in the line 6-6 of Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 7 is a detail section of the hinge joint of the braces in the line 7-7 of Fig. 6. g is an enlarged longitudinal section of one of the fittings which form the outer ends of the arms, and of a portion of the tubular part of the arm screw-threaded into said fitting.

A represents a carriage pole, B B adjustable arms for the attachment of the pole to the carriage shackles, and O C braces connecting the pole with the arms B B. The arms are curved downwardly and rearwardly from the pole when in their position for use and have at their inner or proximate ends pivotal connection with the pole upon pivots arranged lengthwise of the latter. A movement of the arms upon these pivots therefore changes the distance between the outer ends of the arms and thus permits the pole to be adjusted to connect with the variously spaced shackles of different carriages. The braces O C are at their outer ends attached rigidly to the arms B B and at their inner ends also have pivotal connection with the pole by pivotswhich are longitudinal to the latter.

In order to give a practical, reliable and durable construction of the pivotal connection of the arms B with the pole A, I employ that form of hinge joint which consists of an eye, a pintle and lugs or supports for the pintle external to the eye. This is in distinction from a. construction which has heretofore been made in which the inner extremities of the arms are given a direction parallel with each other and longitudinal to the pole and are screw-threaded into sockets attached to the latter. In this former construction the Fig. 8.

rotation of the arms upon their axes for the purpose of adjusting them involves the turning of the screw-threaded portions of the arms in the stationary sockets. Such construction is obviously defective inasmuch as the screwthreads are liable to become worn and the arms loosened and rendered proportionately insecure in their connection with the pole. By the construction herein described and claimed these objections are entirely obviated- With a view to economy the arms 13 are herein illustrated as being each made up of three principal parts, to wit, the rod or tube forming the principal portion of the length of the arms, and cast malleable fittings B and B connected with such principal and central portion and forming the extremities of the arms as entireties. The fittings B forming the inner extremities of the arms B are severally provided with eyes 1) adapted to receive the hinge pintles b and also provided with sockets 5 into which the inner extremities of the bent rods or tubes which form the bodies of the arms are screw-threaded. The supports a a for the pintles b are formed on two separate castings or plates A A which are secured to the under surface of the pole and are adapted to be drawn toward each other in order to hug the eyes I) endwise between them with any desired degree of tightness by means of the nuts a screw-threaded to the extremities to said pintles. The plate A having thereon the front flange or pintle support a is extended forwardly onthe under surface of the pole and, at the appropriate point in advance of the arms B, is provided with longitudinal sockets or eyes 0 to receive the bent ends of the braces O, which latter are provided with shoulders c at the inner ends of said eyes and receive screw nuts 0 at the outer ends thereof. The other plate, A having thereon the rear pintle support or flange a, is a short one and is applied to the under surface of the pole at its rear extremity, said plate being provided with a slot a arranged lengthwise of the pole, through which slot passes a bolt a which secures it to the latter so that, by means of the nuts on the pintles b the pintle supports a a may be drawn with any desired degree of force against the ends of the eyes I).

The fittings B at the outer ends of the arms B B have their outer extremities parallel with the pole or at right angles to the front axle of the carriage, said ends being socketed and tapped to receive the screw-threaded shanks of the eyes B by which the pole is to be connected with the ordinary shackles of a carriage. Said fittings B are at their front ends deflected inwardly into line with the central portions of the arms and are provided with sockets b tapped to receive the screw-threaded ends of said central portions of the arms. They are also at their front ends provided with tapped sockets B to receive the rear ends of the braces O, as plainly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 8.

The shanks of the eyes B are eeaeoe provided with set nuts 6 which may bear against the ends of the socketed fittings B so that, after the arms B have been adjusted to the proper distance bet ween the shackles of a carriage to which the pole is to be applied lar wrought iron; but it isa fault of screw threaded connections of tubes that the screwthreaded ends of such tubes easily compress under various strains and become loose in the nuts or sockets with which they are thus connected. To obviate this difficulty 1 fill the tube within its screw-threaded portion with wood, as shown plainly at b in the sectional Fig. 4. The wood is forced into the tube so as to be compressed therein. By this construction the joint is rendered as durable and free from tendency to loosen as though the tube were a solid rod. If desired a wooden rod may fill the entire length of the tube and thus give additional strength to the latter by sustaining it against tendency to collapse when lateral force is applied thereto. The wood should be inserted before the threads are cut on the tube since, in driving it into the tube, the latter is liable to expansion so as to be too large for the socket prepared therefor.

As a means for causing both arms B B to rotate equally and simultaneously upon the pivots which unite them to the pole, with respect to the latter, the, eyes I) of the fittings B are provided on their proximate surfaces with gear teeth as shown more clearly in the enlarged Fig. 4 of the drawings, and between these segmental gears is interposed a movable, double faced rack D which is provided wit-h teeth 01 that closely fit the teeth I) of the segmentally toothed eyes I). The rack is given inward or outward movement by movement of the arms and is guided in such movement by having its edges 01' fitted to slide in grooves a formed in the proximate and parallel faces of the plates A A Said intermediate rack D being thus held in the same plane with respect to the pole, its movement by rotation of one of the arms will manifestly cause a corresponding movement of the other arm, or, in other words, in the adjustment of the arms both arms will move correspondingly with respect to the pole and the evener upon the latter will therefore always maintain a horizontal position.

The device of a rack D interposed between segmentally toothed arms and guided with respect to the pole, is obviously adapted to be combined with arms having vertical pivots as well as with those having horizontal pivots, as here shown, and, with respect to this improvement, I do not wish to be restricted to a construction in which the arms are connected with the pole by horizontal longitudinal pivots.

For the purpose of preventing the weight of the pole or any weight, accidentally or otherwise imposed upon said pole, from exerting a spreading force upon the carriage shackles I have provided the stationary lug a (Fig. 5) projecting from the pintle support beneath the rack D or beneath a portion of said rack (as shown in said figure) and a set screw a threaded through said lug in post tion to bear against the lower end of said rack. This set screw manifestly limits the downward movement of the rack and consequently the upward and outward movement of the extremities of the arms B B.

I claim as my invention-- 1. In an adjustable carriage pole, the combination with the pole, of adjustable arms pivoted to the pole and provided at their pivoted ends with gear teeth arranged concentric 'with the axes of the pivots, and an intermediate rack engaged with said teeth and guided with respect to the pole.

2. In an adjustable carriage pole, the com- .bination with the pole, of adjustable arms pivoted to the pole and provided at their pivoted ends with gear teeth arranged concentric with the pivots, an intermediate rack engaged with said teeth and guided with respect to the pole, and an adjustable stop engaged with the rack.

3. In an adjustable carriage pole, the combination with the pole, of adjustable arms pivoted to the pole by axes longitudinal to the latter, gear teeth applied to the pivoted ends of said arms concentric with the pivots, and an intermediate rack guided with respect to the pole.

4. In an adjustable carriage pole, the combination with the pole, of arms composed of wrought iron rods or tubes and cast or malleable fittings at the ends of said rods or tubes, the fittings at the inner ends of the arms being constructed to form eyes for the reception of hinge pintles attached to the pole and the fittings at the outer ends of the arms being provided with sockets parallel with the pole, and eyes for. attachment with the carriage shackles adapted to be rotated in said outer sockets of the fittings.

5. In an adjustable carriage pole, the com- I bination with arms provided at their inner endswith pintle eyes arranged lengthwise of the pole, of two separate and relatively movable plates applied to the pole and provided with apertured lugs for the reception of lengthwise arranged pintles, and pintles provided with screw threads and nuts whereby the plates may be drawn toward each other and the pintle supporting lugs may be adjusted 'to close contact with the ends of the pintle eyes upon the arms.

6. In combination with the pole and the arms pivoted to the pole on pivots arranged lengthwise of the latter, a circular series of gear teeth at the inner end of each arm, plates secured to the pole for the support of the pivots and provided with opposite grooves and a double rack engaged with the gear teeth on both arms and fitted to the grooves of the plates.

7. In an adjustable carriage pole, the combination with the pole, of downwardly and rearwardly inclined arms pivoted to said pole on pivots arranged lengthwise of the latter and adjustable means on the pole limiting the spread of said arms.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

NATHAN L. HOLMES.

Witnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, TAYLOR E. BROWN. 

